With a self-service portal powered by govService on their side, Durham County Council is transforming to meet the digital needs of residents while saving significant time and money.
Durham
County Council
How One Council Drove Channel Shift for
£250k in Annual Savings
Overview
Users Added Weekly
300
90
Online Forms
Popular services were automated quickly for residents.
100,000+
Users
MyDurham is popular with the community.
Annual Savings
Channel shift is bringing measurable benefits.
Durham County residents are actively signing up for digital services.
£250,000
Must-have Granicus solution
See how Granicus govService can help you improve service and save time.
When Durham County Council launched their new ICT strategy, Altogether Better Durham, they had three main goals. They wanted to give their citizens more choice, gain better citizen insights, and increase efficiency.
To achieve these goals, Durham County Council needed to radically change their digital offering. And they turned to govService to make that transformation happen.
Need to Deliver on a Citizen-Focused Digital Strategy
govService
Things started to change when govService went live in July 2016. Over 90 processes and forms, including those relating to waste permits and bin collections, were implemented and could be used immediately online, by staff using Service in two call centres and the face-to-face contact centre.
Within 12 months, Durham County Council garnered some exceptional results.
Realising the potential of channel shift was nearly impossible before the Council began using govService. It had taken more than a year to implement a single new process using their old system. Even with that new process in place, just 1% of contacts were truly digital.
Launch MyDurham Self-Service Portal
Powered by Self, MyDurham is the self-service portal which is transforming the way Durham County Council interacts with its citizens.
Every week more than 300 people sign up for a MyDurham account and thousands of citizens every day log in to access informationand carry out tasks, such paying a Council Tax bill or requesting a service.
With more people self-serving, the number of telephone and face-to-face contacts has fallen dramatically, enabling staff to focus their time supporting citizens with the greatest needs.
govService Powers Better Data
At least 40 citizens every day share their feedback on council services with the organisation. Those views together with the extensive citizen data gathered through the Platform are shared widely across the Council via the easy-to-use reporting dashboard.
Thanks to govService, Durham County Council staff now have the insights they need to make evidence-based decisions and policy.
Missed Bin Process Made More Efficient
Bin collections are an essential part of any council's service to its citizens. When bins are missed by refuse staff, people contact their council for information about what has happened and how the council will remedy the issue.
Although Durham County Council's missed bin process was fully integrated to get live updates from their in-cab system, the Council were determined to go a step further and make life easier for their citizens by removing the need for them to contact the Council.
In the new process refuse staff experiencing a problem, such as a road block or traffic delay, can carry out a postcode search and send SMS alerts to all citizens in that area, letting them know that their bins haven't been collected and what will happen next.
This new process is only possible because of govService's in-built Integration Manager. This unique capability enables the easy integration of internal and external back-office systems, in this case postcode databases, details of contact preferences and alert providers.
Online Is Now the Channel of Choice
The number of citizen requests being made online has soared since the the govService launch and the Council began implementing Altogether Better Durham. This dramatic shift in contact channel has already identified over £250,000 in annual savings, a figure that will only grow as time goes on.
With govService, Durham County Council is able to deliver outstanding customer service, streamline their processes, and drive down costs. They are reaping the rewards associated with channel shift and achieving the aims set out in Altogether Better Durham.
Better Service at Reduced Costs
How wrexham county council improved citizen experience through integrated communications & service delivery
Overview
The county council knew the first step to improve the citizen experience was to modernise the way they communicated bin removal services. To ensure citizens received relevant, timely and automated communications, Wrexham implemented Granicus’s govDelivery email, mobile message, and social media platform. Now, they have the sophisticated marketing automation and audience segmentation required to deliver personalised waste and recycling bin collection reminders to over 12,000 residents. Targeted email messages from the county empower residents to take the correct action at the right moment.
These reminders — delivered alongside educational messages about what can and can’t be recycled — are positively impacting local recycling rates. For example, more customers know what can and can’t be recycled; the number of bins not being collected due to contamination has decreased by 27% since implementing govDelivery.
With Firmstep, the county’s digital customer services solution, integrated with govDelivery, their communication platform, the customer experience is seamless.
How does it work? When a customer visits the Wrexham website and enters their address in a form, Firmstep automatically looks up the customer’s collection day and calendar, then sends the information into GovDelivery, which automatically signs the customer up for their bin reminder emails. After that, the customer receives relevant, timely, and automated information about their bin collections. This combination has improved sign-up rates and ensured Wrexham reaches more citizens.
How the Firmstep + GovDelivery integration streamlines service
Satisfaction Rate
Citizens love the online experience they are receiving
93%
Increasing by 500 new accounts per month
18K
Self-Service Accounts
Bin Reminders
12K
Increasing by 800 subscribers per month
The result of targeted, proactive communications
Reduction in Calls
48%
Must-have Granicus product
Could your citizens benefit from seamless and integrated digital experiences? Get in touch with us today to learn more about how Granicus can help!
See It Live
Situation
Solution
Results
Background
Like many local governments in California, the team at the Napa County Election Division has many critical duties in support of local, state, and federal elections. They also must help ensure all required government officials disclose their financial interests.
Designated filing officers must accurately track, manage, and deliver documents related to the disclosure of government employee and elected official Statement of Economic Interest, known as Form 700 in California. The process is regulated by the State of California’s Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).
Staff at the Election Division have their own goals to increase efficiency and make sure officials file on time. Napa County’s recently updated strategic plan has a priority goal of making government more transparent.
A Mandate for Transparency & Efficiency
Situation
Solution
The DisclosureDocs implementation team worked closely with Napa County staff to meet their tight deadline. After their kickoff meeting in January 2019, they migrated files, trained staff, and then deployed. In the end, they were able to implement DisclosureDocs by their deadline of April 2.
From Manual to Automatic
See It Live
When Durham County Council launched their new ICT strategy, Altogether Better Durham, they had three main goals. They wanted to give their citizens more choice, gain better citizen insights, and increase efficiency.
To achieve these aims, Durham County Council needed to radically change their digital offering. And they turned to Firmstep and the Firmstep Customer Experience Platform to make that transformation happen.
Things started to change when govService went live in July 2016. Over 90 processes and forms, including those relating to waste permits and bin collections, were implemented and could be used immediately online, by staff using Service in two call centres and the face-to-face contact centre.
Within 12 months, Durham County Council garnered some exceptional results.
Realising the potential of channel shift was nearly impossible before the Council began using govService. It had taken more than a year to implement a single new process using their old system. Even with that new process in place, just 1% of contacts were truly digital.
Results
Powered by Self, MyDurham is the self-service portal which is transforming the way Durham County Council interacts with its citizens.
Every week more than 300 people sign up for a MyDurham account and thousands of citizens every day log in to access informationand carry out tasks, such paying a Council Tax bill or requesting a service.
With more people self-serving, the number of telephone and face-to-face contacts has fallen dramatically, enabling staff to focus their time supporting citizens with the greatest needs.
Rich Data
At least 40 citizens every day share their feedback on council services with the organisation. Those views together with the extensive citizen data gathered through the Platform are shared widely across the Council via the easy-to-use reporting dashboard.
Thanks to govService, Durham County Council staff now have the insights they need to make evidence-based decisions and policy.
Spotlight on the Missed Bin Process
Bin collections are an essential part of any council's service to its citizens. When bins are missed by refuse staff, people contact their council for information about what has happened and how the council will remedy the issue.
Although Durham County Council's missed bin process was fully integrated to get live updates from their in-cab system, the Council were determined to go a step further and make life easier for their citizens by removing the need for them to contact the Council.
In the new process refuse staff experiencing a problem, such as a road block or traffic delay, can carry out a postcode search and send SMS alerts to all citizens in that area, letting them know that their bins haven't been collected and what will happen next.
This new process is only possible because of govService's in-built Integration Manager. This unique capability enables the easy integration of internal and external back-office systems, in this case postcode databases, details of contact preferences and alert providers.
With govService, Durham County Council is able to deliver outstanding customer service, streamline their processes and drive down costs. They are reaping the rewards associated with channel shift and achieving the aims set out in Altogether Better Durham.
Over 100,000 People Use MyDurham